#173: Cuba's Platanos Maduros: Fried Sweet Plantains

Plantains! Oh wow, I have never tried frying them until this time. So good, so sweet and so filling! In the Philippines, we have a wide variety of bananas and we really did not eat the one we export--cavendish, which is one widely available here..we ate the much sweeter binangay, and we also fry sweet saba bananas..we call it Maruya. Plantains are cooking bananas, they are huge! It has a tougher skin and when super ripe, tastes like our sweet bananas back home too. One great thing I learned, although it is sweet, it has less sugar than any other bananas. 

I also learned that the secret to a sweet and soft fried plantain, is making sure to use the most ripe, with lots of blacks on the skin. I tried frying the slightly unripe, and it had a different flavor and texture. This Cuban version of fried plantain, is great when eaten as is, its super sweet and does not need anything else to enjoy it. It's delicious!

PLATANOS MADUROS 

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 very ripe Plantains
• 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil 

Directions:

1. In a pan, over low heat, add coconut oil.
2. Fry the plantains over low heat until golden and soft. Turn over to cook the other side.
3. Remove cooked plantains from oil and transfer to plate lined with paper towels to drain oil.
4. Enjoy!

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#172 Lechon Manok: Filipino Lemongrass Roasted Chicken

This is an all-time favorite in our home in the Philippines and here in San Jose, California.  The secret to the delicious aroma is the lemongrass. We call in tanglad in Filipino. I wish I have the same bush we have in Lupon so I can bring the freshest ones to the table... Maybe I should try planting one this spring.

Lemongrass or citronella grass or tanglad is commonly used in Asian Cuisine. It is also used as medicine, it is supposed to help relieve cough and nasal congestion,  and it also anti-fungal properties. 

It is fragrant, I love how it smells. I have a bottle of lemongrass essential oil in my bathroom, and I mix it with my patchouli, neroli and rose essential oils, it makes the bath water smells amazing. This great plant is also used to make perfumes. So can you imagine what your roasted chicken will smell like  after you take it out from the oven? :) Trust me, it will smell delicious.

Ready to make it? Here's how I made mine:

LECHON MANOK

Ingredients:

• 1 roasting chicken

• lemon grass

• 6 garlic

• 1 onion

• salt

• pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
2. Remove the giblets, if there are any from the cavity of the chicken, generously add salt and pepper into the cavity. Fill it with the garlic, cut onions, lemongrass and giblets if there any. Add as many lemon grass as you can fit it in there.
3. Line a large baking pan with lemon grass stalks.
4. Truss the chicken and place it breast side up, and place it on top of the lemongrass. Roast in the second bottom rack of the oven until the bird is golden on the outside and leg join moves easily when you rotate it. About 1 hour.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven, add salt and pepper generously all over. Flip the bird onto breast side down on the lined lemongrass and return it in the oven and let it there for another 20 minutes.
6. Carve the chicken and enjoy!

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#171: Nilagang Baka: Filipino Beef Soup

This soup reminds me of home, one of my many comfort foods. And it is also super easy to make! You can leave it simmering while working on other tasks, it will be ready and delicious after 3 hours! 

My Nilagang Baka is very simple. I do not put a lot of ingredients, I just want to taste the flavor of beef in the hot soup, definitely no msg, and of course enjoy a super tender meat...

The secret to a clear broth is tending to it during the first few minutes after it starts boiling, scum accumulates on the surface, and so you need to remove ALL of it using a laddle or a slotted spoon. 

NILAGANG BAKA

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs. chuck roast
• 5-6 cups of water, add more if needed
• 1 teaspoon salt, more if needed  
• pepper
• potatoes, peeled and sliced
• bokchoy 
• cabbage 

Directions:

1. Cut meat into 2-inch chunks.
2. In a big pot, add water and meat. Bring to boil. 
3. Remove all scum from the surface.
4. Add salt. Simmer until meat is tender. About 2 hours. Add water if needed.
5. Add potatoes, simmer until tender.
6. Turn off heat, add bokchoy and cabbage.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve hot. 

Yummy and very filling!

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#170 Polish Stuffed Cabbage: Golabki

This dish is somewhat similar to Malfoof , a middle eastern stuffed cabbage, posted this month as well, where you can see pictures of how I prepared the cabbage leaves. Golabki is Polish Stuffed Cabbage. The difference in the taste is the addition of eggs, mushrooms and the sweet and sour tomato sauce, and the lack of all spice and nutmeg. 

In this dish, instead of using rice, I used cooked buckwheat groats or Kasha, which is a fruit seed related to rhubarb and sorrel. For months now, I have been eating more pseudo grains like quinoa and buckwheat instead of plain rice because of their nutritional value. Pictured below are uncooked and cooked Kasha or buckwheat groats.

Ready to make your Golabki? Here's how I made mine:

GOLABKI

Ingredients:

• 2 organic cabbage heads
• 1 head organic garlic, peeled
• 1 pack Costco Organic Grass-Fed ground beef (1.34 lbs.)
• 1 cup uncooked rice or cooked buckwheat groats
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms  
• 1 large egg, beaten 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 cup water (more if needed)
• 2 cans of tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Core cabbage.
3. In a big pot, add cabbage and water,  this is to measure the amount of water needed to submerge whole cabbage, remove cabbage before bringing it to boil.
4. Add whole, cored cabbage in boiling water. Lower the heat to low. Remove once cabbage leaves are soft, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to cook it! Plunge it in cold water to halt the cooking process.
5. Once cooled, using a knife, remove the thick portion of the leaf.
6. In a large bowl, mix, the uncooked rice or cooked buckwheat groats, chopped mushrooms, 1 egg beaten.
7. Using your oiled hands, form mixture into golf sized balls, roll and wrap it with prepared cabbage leaves.  (See pics above for illustration)
8. Arrange the rolled stuffed cabbage tightly in a large baking dish. 
9. In a small pan, add water, 2 cans of tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar and lemon juice, bring to boil and add to the rolled stuffed cabbage.
10. Place a non-plastic heavy salad plate on top to make sure the stuffed cabbage does not float. Cover with foil.
11. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add more water if needed, it is important that  sauce covers the cabbage to keep the stuffing moist. Salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious!

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#169 Stobhach Gaelach: Irish Stew

Some purists suggest that the authentic Irish stew or Stobhach Gaelach  should only have the following ingredients: neck mutton or kid, onions, potatoes and water. Recognized as early as the 1800's, there are many variations that are suggested nowadays. I chose to add carrots. I did not find mutton or goat in the grocery stores, and so I chose lamb--shoulder blade. I also used leeks and added fresh rosemary based on the recipe I adapted it from . I was worried that it won't turn out ok, but it did! 

STOBHACH GAELACH

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 lbs lamb shoulder blade
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, sliced
4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 cups of water
5 large potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 cup thinly sliced leeks
parsley for garnishing

Directions:

1. Brown Lamb by batches, remove from pan once browned, set aside. (see pics below)
2. In the same pan, add onions and cook until translucent.
3. Add the browned lamb, salt, pepper and water. Cover and bring to boil.
4. Lower heat, and simmer meat for 1.5 hours or until tender.
5. Stir in potatoes and carrots, add water if needed, simmer for another 20 minutes.
6. Stir in leeks and rosemary, continue to simmer until potatoes are tender.
7. Serve hot and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
8. Enjoy!

Ahh, this was so good! I'm so happy that I learned how to cook this dish. I have always used beef for my stews, I rarely bought lamb because I really was not sure how to cook it. Back home in the Philippines, we did not have abundant supply of lamb meat, in fact I have never even tried it until I moved to California. This dish makes preparing lamb easy. It is also very delicious, and the meat was very  very soft!

The starch from the potatoes thickened the sauce, and so there is really no need to add wheat flour to this recipe. Season it according to your taste, I'm sure you will love how this dish will warm up your belly in this cold winter season...

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#168 Malfoof: Middle Eastern Stuffed Cabbage

I was first introduced to this dish about 5 years ago, and finally, I got to make it! 

It is tedious, but it pays off in the end! A super delicious meal, it's easy to over eat! The preparation involves removing the core of the cabbage, blanching it to make the leaves pliable, and prevent it from tearing...then seasoning the ground meat and then wrapping it with the prepared cabbage. 

It is important to remove the thicker portion of the cabbage leaf,  shown in the picture above, before using it to wrap the meat mixture.

Traditionally, this dish calls for rice. Since I am avoiding white rice, I used buckwheat groats for my Malfoof. 

Buckwheat groats are not grains, but when cooked, tastes like rice almost. It needs to be cooked first before mixing with the meat, because it will take forever to soften if you mix it raw..pictured below are uncooked and cooked buckwheat groats. But if you are using rice, then uncooked rice must be mixed with the meat before wrapping it with the cabbage.

Then it's wrapping time!

Wrapping the meat is actually easy, I folded the upper portion first, then the sides.. and then rolled it.

My rolls were tight, because I didn't want it to break apart while cooking.

I arranged the stuffed cabbage in a baking dish, making sure that there's no loose gap..

After an hour in the oven, we were enjoying this delicious dish! We ate it with Greek Yogurt.

MALFOOF 

Ingredients:

• 2 organic cabbage heads
• 1 head organic garlic, peeled
• 1 pack Costco Organic Grass-Fed ground beef (1.34 lbs.)
• 1 cup uncooked rice or cooked buckwheat groats
• 2 teaspoons all spice
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water (more if needed)

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Core cabbage.
3. In a big pot, add cabbage and water,  this is to measure the amount of water needed to submerge whole cabbage, remove cabbage before bringing it to boil.
4. Add whole, cored cabbage in boiling water. Lower the heat to low. Remove once cabbage leaves are soft, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to cook it! Plunge it in cold water to halt the cooking process.
5. Once cooled, using a knife, remove the thick portion of the leaf.
6. In a large bowl, mix, the uncooked rice or cooked buckwheat groats, all spice, nutmeg, salt, pepper.
7. Using your oiled hands, form mixture into golf sized balls, roll and wrap it with prepared cabbage leaves.  (See pics above for illustration)
8. Arrange the stuffed cabbage rolls tightly in a baking dish. Add water and oil. Sprinkle peeled whole garlic on top.
9. Place a non-plastic salad plate on top to make sure the stuffed cabbage does not float. Cover with foil.
10. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add more water if needed, it is important that  water covers the cabbage to keep the stuffing moist. Enjoy warm with Greek Yogurt and lemon. Salt and pepper to taste.

I will be making this again soon!! :)

If you enjoyed this post, follow this blog as we will be posting 197 more recipes! 197 recipes to discover, learn to cook, take pictures and post here to complete the goal of 365! 

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#167 Brazilian Bread : Pao de Queijo

The first time we had this was in  February of last year, at Fogo de Chao in San Jose, it's a Brazilian Steak House. It was so good. I didn't know until recently that it is gluten-free and grain-free! I was very excited to make it and hoped that the recipe works!

I was lucky to have tapioca flour in the pantry and after 10 minutes prepping it, I was watching my little bread balls baking in the oven closely... I wondered if it was going to crack, pop..or burn?! I was hoping for the best. 20 minutes later, I was enjoying my hot Pao de Queijo! It was crispy on the outside, rubbery on the inside. And that's how it is supposed to be, I was glad it turned out great!

PAO DE QUEIJO

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour
2 teaspoons garlic
2/3 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 beaten eggs 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a large saucepan, add olive oil, water, milk and salt, bring to boil and then remove from heat immediately.
3. Stir in tapioca, mix well until well blended, around 10 minutes by hand, 5 minutes using a mixer.
4. Form little bite sized balls with well-oiled hands. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake until tops are lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Found a hero in this... Love it!!!

If you enjoyed this post, follow this blog as we will be posting 198 more recipes! 198 recipes to discover, learn to cook, take pictures and post here to complete the goal of 365!

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xo V.